What Our Culture Gets Wrong About Trigger Warnings

The ever-fraught debate over trigger warnings and safe spaces on college campuses landed back in the news last week when The University of Chicago took a particularly hard-line stance on the issue, stating:

The letter stirred up predictably fervent opinions on both sides, from those who righteously defended it to those who challenged and even satirized it. Now, a week later, I’m left wondering: Has anything changed? And can it, when this long-running debate plays out along the same lines every time?

If we want to truly make progress on the issue of trigger warnings, maybe it’s time we challenge the very way the debate is consistently framed.

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The University of Chicago statement tapped into the same themes that these statements always do: themes based on ideas of strength and weakness. The university presented those who are pro-trigger warnings as “retreating,” due to fear of differing perspectives and ideas, unable to manage a simple “challenge” or “even discomfort.” Meanwhile, it presented itself as strong and resolute, committed to the highest values of freedom and truth, even at the expense of making people…